Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers at the SCG. Photo: Getty Images

Bad blood between the two teams extends back to 2011, with tempers flaring again last year when an all-in brawl erupted during the game. The Dodgers angered their National League West rivals after jumping in their pool after clinching the division, with allegations later made that several Dodgers players had urinated in the pool.

While Arizona outfielder AJ Pollock refused to light the fuse for another fiery confrontation, he admitted the Dodgers' antics in the pool were disrespectful.

"They celebrated clinching the division on our field, we have a pool in right-centre field and they decided to jump in and celebrate," Pollock said.

"I know they were excited about winning the division, they deserve everything they got because they played great. But there's something about respecting your opponent and we didn't feel like we were given any respect there."

It came just three months after the bench-clearing altercation at Dodger Stadium, where eight players were suspended and a dozen fined for their involvement in what was described as the fight of the season.

ESPN Los Angeles reporter Mark Saxon said there was plenty of ill-feeling between the two teams and dislike among certain players.

"In that game, Yasiel Puig, who is hated around the league because a lot of people believe he didn't behave like a rookie, the Diamondbacks hit him on the nose," Saxon said.

"The Dodgers retaliated and hit Miguel Montero - that should have been it, that was the tit-for-tat we were expecting. Then Ian Kennedy comes in and hits Zack Greinke - that's when it erupted.

"I don't think the Dodgers like the Diamondbacks manager, and there's a couple of guys on their team that rub the Dodgers up the wrong way as well."

Pollock, who recently lived in Potts Point with his girlfriend for three months, was involved in the altercation last year.

The Dodgers went on to win the game, with Pollock admitting his side had to learn to deal with adversity.

"It was the first time I'd ever been in a bench-clearing brawl like that," Pollock said.

"It happened real quick and tempers flared. I think both teams have kind of moved on past that. It's more about winning and they ended up winning that game which was a big deal. That ended up being the turning point in their season because they went on a huge winning streak.

"We play 162 games and emotions get high in certain games. Sometimes it can boost you and sometimes it can bring you down. We're going to try and be as controlled as we can and handle our business."